1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a passenger distinguishing apparatus, and more particularly, to a passenger distinguishing apparatus that has a weight detection sensor assembled in a horizontal direction of a vehicle seat and a damper for absorbing assembling tolerance of the weight detection sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
An air bag device is a device for protecting passengers within vehicles by absorbing a physical impact occurring when vehicles collide using elasticity of an air cushion and is classified into a driver seat air bag device, a passenger seat air bag device, a side air bag device, and a curtain air bag device.
When a gas is injected into the air cushion upon collision of vehicles, the air cushion is inflated in a high speed in order to protect a passenger, and thus when the passenger seated in a passenger seat is a child or an adult having a relatively light weight, due to an impact by inflation of the air cushion, the passenger may be injured.
In order to prevent this, a plurality of weight detection sensors for detecting the passenger's weight are disposed at the passenger seat, the plurality of weight detection sensors detect the passenger's weight and determine whether a passenger is seated in the passenger seat and whether the seated passenger is a child, an adult having a light weight, or an adult having a general weight, and determine inflation of the air bag and change an inflation condition of the air bag according to a condition of the passenger seated in the passenger seat.
The weight detection sensor is classified into a vertical mounting type assembled in a vertical direction of the seat and a horizontal mounting type assembled in a horizontal direction of the seat.
Unlike the vertical mounting type, because the horizontal mounting type uses a basic assembling structure of the seat without necessity to provide a separate bracket for assembling in the seat, a weight and cost can be reduced, however the horizontal mounting type may be rotated by assembling tolerance between the weight detection sensor and the weight detection sensor and a hole for assembling the weight detection sensor and the weight detection sensor. Further, similarly to the vertical mounting type, in the horizontal mounting type, assembling tolerance occurred in the seat becomes a factor for causing error when detecting a weight of the passenger seated in the seat. That is, even if minute assembling tolerance occurs when assembling the seat, when the weight detection sensor detects a weight, considerable error may occur, and because the horizontal mounting type rotates by the passenger's weight, the horizontal mounting type cannot accurately detect the passenger's weight, and thus has a negative influence on inflation of the air bag and an inflation condition of the air bag.